Oxyalkylated quinoline sulfonic acid compound

ABSTRACT

A process for the recovery of hydrocarbon materials from a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation by contacting the formation with an aqueous alkaline flooding medium containing a solubilizing agent.

Palmer et al.

451 Jan. 14, 1975 1 OXYALKYLATED QUINOLINE SULFONIC ACID COMPOUND [75] Inventors: Harold A. Palmer; Thomas E.

Sample, Jr., both of Houston, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Texaco Inc., New York, NY. I

[22] Filed: Nov. 2, 1972 [21] Appl. No: 303,170

Related U.S. Application Data 162] Division of Ser, No. 160,142, July 6, 1971, Pat. No.

[52] U.S. Cl. 260/283 S, 106/272, 166/274, 7 166/275, 260/289 OX, 260/289 R [51] Int. Cl C07d 33/60 {58] Field of Search 260/283 S, 289 OX, 289 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,514,411 5/1970 Kolobielski 260/289 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 344,724 4/1960 Switzerland 260/289 Primary Examiner-Donald G. Daus Assistant lz'.r qminer--Mary Vaughn Attorney, Agent, or FI'rmT. H. Whalcy, C. Gv Rios 157 1 ABSTRACT A process for the recovery of hydrocarbon materials from a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation by contacting the formation with an aqueous alkaline flooding medium containing a solubilizing agent.

3 Claims, No Drawings OXYALKYLATED QUINOLINE SULFONIC ACID COMPOUND This is a division of application Ser. No. 160,142,

filed July 6, 1971, now US. Pat. NO. 3,731,741.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an improvedprocess for the recovery of hydrocarbon materials from hydrocarbonbearing formations. More particularly, the invention relates to a process in which hydrocarbons, including asphaltic crudes, are recovered from a reservoir by contacting the formation with an aqueous alkaline flooding medium containing a solubilizing agent.

when applied. to reservoirs of viscous crudes. Even the use of improved recovery practices involving heating, miscible flooding, water flooding and steam processing may still leave up to 70-80% of the original hydrocarbons in place.

Thus, many large reserves of petroleum fluids from which only small recoveries have been realized by present commercial recovery methods, are yet to reach a potential recovery approaching their estimatedoil-inplace. I

Water flooding is one of'the more'widely practiced secondary recovery methods. A succ'essful water flood may result in recovery of -50% ofthe original hydrocarbons left in placexHowever, generally the application of water flooding to many crudes results in much lower recoveries.

The newerdevelopment in recovery methods for heavy crudes is the use of steam injection which has been applied in several modifications, including the push-pull technique and through-put methods, and has resulted in significant recoveries in some areas. Crude recovery by this process is enhanced through the beneficial effects of the'drastic viscosity reduction that accompanies an increase in temperature. This reduction in viscosity facilitates the produciton of hydrocarbons since it improves their mobility, i.e., it increases their ability to flow.

However, the application of these secondary recov ery techniques to depleted formations may leave major quantities of oil-in-place, since the crude is tightly bound to the sand particles of the formation, that is, the

. sorptive capacity of the sand for the crude is great. In

addition, interfacial tension between the immiscible phases result in entrapping crude in the pores, thereby reducing recovery. Another disadvantage is the tendency of the aqueous drive fluid to finger,since its viscosity is considerably less than that of the crude,

thereby reducing the efficiency of the' processes.

crude, and thickeners have been developed to adjust viscosity so as to inhibit fingering.

The practiced methods for the injection of additives commonly consist of injection of a slug of additive, contained in a transporting medium, e.g. water, into the formation and then following this injection with a flood water to move the additive slug through the formation. In its ideal effect, the so-callcd slug moves through the formation as an additive bank, thereby imparting its beneficiating effects to the recovery process.

In many hydrocarbon-bearing formations it is'common to find the oil sands to be preferentially wetted by oil. It is well known in the art to inject into these preferentially oil-wetted formations certain chemicals to reverse the wettability characteristics of the formation, thereby increasing the effectiveness of a water flood to remove the residual crude. For example, a dilute alkaline aqueous solution is known to increase the wetting characteristics of sand surfaces, and promote a leaching action and emulsification of the tarry materials. Those solutions have been used as slugs in conjunction with subsequent steam injection processes to force the emulsion thus formed through the formation to a production well.

Improved recoveries from heavy crudes or tar sands have been realized. also by'the use of dilute aqueous alkaline solutions containing an effective amount of nonionic surfactant, whereby extraction is effected by the spontaneous emulsification when the aqueous liquid comes in contact with the tar in the sand.

However, some of the disadvantages of those additive recovery processes include the problem that the additive may be strongly absorbed in the surfaces of thesand formation, resulting in a large or excessive amount additives, which may be relatively expensive, may become excessiveearly in the life of the recovery process necessitating its termination. Other disadvantages include the unfavorable viscosity ratio between the flooding medium and the crude.

It is known that the recovery of oil by injection of water or other fluids varies substantially from one formation to another and it is believed that the asphalt content of the hydrocarbons of some formations is at least a major factor responsible for this variation. A variety of known asphalt dispersants have been employed in flooding media on the theory that such materials would substantially improve hydrocarbon recovery in those instances where asphalt was present in the native hydrocarbon, however, the use of such materials has not been particularly effective, probably because of the limited solubility ofsuch agents in the normally employed flooding fluids. There is a definite need in the art, therefore, for a recovery process employing asphalt dispersants with improved solubility characteristics.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an improved process for increasing the ultimate recovery'of hydrocarbon from a'hydrocarbonbearing formation.

Another object of this invention is to provide an efficient method-for the recovery of hydrocarbon from a hydrocarbon-bearing formation in which an aqueous alkaline flooding medium containing as a solubilizing agent a water-soluble, oxyalkylated, nitrogencontaining aromatic compound is utilized.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The aqueous alkaline flooding medium employed in the process of this invention comprises an aqueous medium which can'be, for example, steam, hot water, a mixture of hot water and steam or cold water together with an alkaline agent. Useful alkaline agents include compounds selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal hydroxide, an alkaline earth metal hydroxide, and a basic salt of the alkali metal, or alkaline earth metal which is capable of hydrolyzing in an aqueous medium through the medium to give an alkaline solution, the concentration of the alkaline agent being about 0.001 to about 0.5 molar to give the required alkaline solution. Examples of the especially useful alkaline agents include sodium hydroxide. potassium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide, sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, etc.

Solubilizing materials useful in the process of this incess is more completely described in US. Pat. No. 2,425,845.

The solubilizing agent should be present in the aqueous solution in sufficient concentration to effect the emulsificatiori of the hydrocarbon material and maintain them in this state during passage through the formation. Concentrations in solutions of from about 0.05 to about 5.0 percent by weight of the solubilizing agent are usually sufficient, although smaller or larger amounts may be employed satisfactorily in some cases.

The advantageous results achieved with the aqueous alkaline flooding medium used in the process of this invention are believed to be derived from the wettability improving characteristics of the alkaline agent and the solubilizing action of the solubilizing agent on the crude oil such as in tar sands and in other formation and especially on the asphaltene fractions The solubilizing agent is believed to be effective in releasing the vention include water-soluble, oxyalkylated nitrogencontaining aromatic compounds where preferably the aromatic compound contains not more than 12 carbon atoms and the number of oxyalkyl units is about 5 to ijfl l U v wherein R is alkylene of from 2 to 4 inclusive carbon atoms, and m is an integer of from about 5 to about and. preferably, from about 5 to about 20.

The novel water-soluble oxyalkylated products of this invention can be conveniently prepared by a number of processes well-known in the art. For example, the alkylene oxide can be reacted with the initiator dissolved in a suitable solvent throughout which an alkaline catalyst, such as potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, is uniformly dispersed. The quantity of the catalyst utilized generally will be from about 0.15 to about 0.1 percent by weight of the reactants. Preferably, the reaction temperature will range from about 80C. to about 180C, while the reaction time will be from about 1 to about 20 hours or more depending on the particular reaction conditions employed. This procrude from the pore surfaces or the sand surfaces as the case may be so that the surfaces can be exposed to the alkaline agent.

A further advantage of the aqueous alkaline flooding medium of this invention is believed to result from its ability to emulsify the extracted crude to form an oil in water emulsion. The effectiveness of the flooding medium is also thought to result to a great extent from its action on the heavier complex hydrocarbon materials referred to as asphaltenes present to some extent in all crude's and especially in low-gravity viscous crudes and oils such as those found in tar sands which are extremely difficult to recover. It has been shown that asphaltene fractions are responsible in a large part for the adhesive force which many oils and especially heavy crudes and tars have for the mineral surfaces of the hydrocarbon-bearing formations.

In operating the process of this invention one embodiment may consist of drilling an injection well into the formation through which the aqueousalkaline flooding medium is injected into. the formation. The

.flooding medium may be injected continuously or a slug of the aqueous alkaline flooding medium containing the solubilizing agent may be injected into the formation followed by injection of a slug of an aqueous drive fluid such as water, hot water, orsteam.

During the passage of the aqueous alkaline flooding medium of this invention which contains the solubilizing agent hydrocarbons are stripped from the formation, forming an oil in water emulsion which can then be produced at neighboring wells. Recovery of the hydrocarbons from the emulsion can be accomplished by any one of several well known emulsion breaking techniques.

Preparation of Ethoxylated-S-Hydroxy Ouinolines A series of four polyethoxylated-8 hydroxy quinoline solubilizing agents having the general formula:

mixture was steam distilled to remove unreacted polyethylene glycol and water was then removed from the oxyalkylated product by evaporation. Yield: 33 grams. The molecular weight of the product was determined in dimethyl formamide solution using a vapor pressure osmometer and found to be 478 (Product B).

Three additional polyethoxylated products were.pre-' pared (i.e., products A, C and D) utilizing 8- hydroxyquinoline as the initiator in the same manner as described above except that polyethylene glycols having respectively molecular weights of 300, 600 .and l000 were employed. Details relating to these four polyethoxylated compounds are set forth in Table I which follows:

Table 1 Molecular Weights of Polyethoxylated X-Hydroxyquinolines Product Molecular Weight n A 365 5 B 478 ll C (:30 l l D 886 [7 Preparation of Ethoxylated 8-Quinoline Sulfonic Acid Equal quantities by weight of S-quinolinesulfonic acid and phosphorous pentachloride were ground together in a mortar. This mixture was then refluxed at approximately l40C. for 3 hours after which work-up of'the reaction mixture gave 8-quinolinesulfonyl chloride.

Seven grams (0.031 moles) of the 8- quinolinesulfonyl chloride was gradually added to a mixture of polyethylene glycol (mol. wt. 600, 0.034- moles) and 1.7 grams of potassium hydroxide which had been pro-heated to 95C. The mixture was then heated to a temperature of l40-l 50C. and allowed to remain at that temperature for 4 hours, After work-up the product, ethoxylated- 8-quinolinesulfonic acid, was obtained in about 75 percent yield. The molecular weight of the product was determined at 62C. in dimethyl formamide solution utilizing a vapor presure osmometer and found to be 764 (theoretical 791).

Three additional ethoxylated quinoline sulfonic acid derivatives were prepared in the same manner as described above by reacting equimolar quantities of a polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight of 200, 400 and 1000 respectively with 8-quinolinesulfonyl chloride. In each instance the yield of the desired product was about 75 percent.

The following examples which illustrate various embodiments of this invention are to be considered not limitative.

EXAMPLE l-IV A series of flow tests utilizing as a flooding medium an aqueous alkaline flooding medium and as a solubilizing agent Products A, B, C or D were carried out. Small sand packs were prepared using 150/200 mesh Ottawa sand and having pore volumes of approximately 30 ml. The packs were saturated with brine which was displaced with Slocum crude oil (APl gravity 17.5) to irreducible water saturation. In the next step the oil saturation of the packs was reduced to approximately percent by flooding with 8 pore volumes ofdistillcd water. This initial waterflood was followed by the injection into each pack of 8 pore volumes of0.5 volume percent of a solution of Products A-D respectively at three different pH values, namely 7, 12 and 13. The amount of oil recovered was measured and the results obtained are shown in Table 2.

Results obtained in two additional comparative tests, one with quinoline as a solubilizing agent (CT-1) and a second with alkaline water alone (CT-2) are also set forth in Table 2.

Table 2 EFFECT OF SOLUBlLIZlNC AGENTS ON OIL RECOVERY Percent Recovery of Oil u pH adjusted with sodium hydroxide.

The data presented in Table 2 indicates that oil recovery increases as the molecular weight of the polyethoxylated solubilizing agent increases and as the pH of the flooding medium increases. Further, it is shown in Table 2 that substantially higher oil recoveries can be achieved utilizing the aqueous alkali flooding media of this invention over that obtained when quinoline is em ployed in the aqueous alkaline medium or when water alone is utilized.

In a like manner increased oil recovery can be achieved when, for example, ethoxylated 8-quinoline sulfonic acid of molecular weight 764 or the other above-described oxyalkylated products are employed in the process of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A water-soluble, oxyalkylated, nitrogen-containing aromatic compound of the formula:

R (OR')mOH,

wherein R is R is alkylene of from 2 to 4 inclusive carbon atoms and m is an integer of from 5 to 50.

2. The compound of claim 1 wherein m is an integer of from 5 to 20.

3. The compound of claim 1 wherein R is: 

2. The compound of claim 1 wherein m is an integer of from 5 to
 20. 3. The compound of claim 1 wherein R is: 